About me

This blogname was derived from the novel The Secret Life Of Saeed The Pessoptimist by the Palestinian Israeli Emile Habiby: absurdism as weapon against the (ir)realities of daily life in Palestine/Israel. (The subtitle is from a book by Dutch author Renate Rubinstein. It could as well be my motto).
My real name is Martin (Maarten Jan) Hijmans. I've been covering the ME since 1977 and have been a correspondent in Cairo. I started my 'Abu Pessoptimist' blog in January 2009 out of anger during the onslaught in Gaza. The other one, The Pessoptmist, is meant to be a sister version in English. (En voor de Nederlandstaligen: ik wilde in november 2009 een tweede blog in het Engels beginnen en ontdekte te laat dat als je één account hebt, een profiel dan meteen ook voor allebei de blogs geldt. Vandaar dat het nu ineens in het Engels is... So sorry.)

Monday, August 6, 2012

Copts demonstrated in front of Morsi's palace against unsolved problems in Dahshur village

Dozens of Copts protested in front of the Presidential Palace in Heliopolis, Cairo, on Sunday against the forced migration of Christians from Dahshur, Giza.
The protesters chanted: "Where is Dahshur's right?" and held banners with the slogans: "Where is justice? Why did they kick out the Christians?" and "What does Morsi want? Does he want us to kiss his feet?"
The Christians left Dahshur village after clashes that started last week, when a Coptic launderer burned the shirt of one of his Muslim customers when he was ironing it. The fight escalated and one Muslim, Moaz Mohamed Mohamed, got seriously wounded. All accounts agree that the injured was a passerby, and that the fight
started as a regular not sectarian argument. The village used to boast
of a happily integrated Muslim and Christian community with growing
business prospects that encouraged Copts to move there from neighbouring
villages.
The fight turned sectarian when the Muslim man died in
hospital on Wednesday 1 August. Then new clashes erupted, leaving nine
people, including the Director of Criminal Investigations of Giza
Security Directorate Mahmoud Farouq, injured. This is
also when all Christian families felt threatened and were pressured to
leave their hometown by everyone from the police — who reportedly
advised them to go, claiming they would not be able to protect them — to
neighbours that promised to protect their properties, and even the
local priest, who urged them to take their children and flee. Protester Nader Magdy told the Al-Ahram Arabic website: "I had to leave
my village because they threatened us with murder and they said any
Christian will be shot dead."
Several houses belonging to Christian residents in addition to two
businesses in the town were burned down by crowds angered by Mohamed's
death. There was also a failed attempt to
set the Mary Girgis Church on fire before security forces used tear gas
to disperse angry crowds. A special security team was appointed to
secure the church and Copts' homes in the village.
According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), who
were monitoring the situation from the beginning and released a report
31 July urging the police to protect citizens and properties, "A mob
tried to attack the local Mari Girgis Church, but a group of Muslims
prevented them and protected the church until a police force came and
dispersed the crowd. The mob later burned a Christian man's house and
police failed to intervene." The report warned against escalating
violence and collective punishment of citizens who are not part of the
argument. It also warned that in similar cases the police have remained
passive. What EIPR warned against then happened. Police failed to protect Coptic
citizens and properties and watched as violence escaled and hundreds fled their homes.

President Morsi's office has condemned the attacks. His spokesman Yasser Ali said on Saturday that Dahshur's Copts have not been forced to migrate following recent
clashes, but did so out of fear for future clashes. Ali also said that Copts who have suffered material damages will be compensated, and that Morsi contacted Al-Azhar's grand imam and the
acting Coptic pope to intervene to end the crisis.
Also the Islamist group Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya released a statement on Friday stating that it is unlawful to assault the lives and properties of Christians under any circumstances.
Apparently, however, the problems in Dahshur seem to be far from over. Egypt Independent reported that a reconciliation session will be held soon. Sessions like that were traditionally held in the Mubarak era when sectarian clashes broke out. They usually did not solve the problems, as both sides used to be put under pressure to agree to terms that had been laid out beforehand by the authorities.